June 28 - July 2, 2003
The educational-cultural post conference tour (immediately after WACRA 2003) will take participants from the vineyards of Bordeaux to the small town of Cognac the birthplace of François I and the cradle of the fine brandy which bears its name. A visit to Martell, the oldest of all the Cognac distilleries includes seeing the semi-automated bottling process, and the stores and cellars where the brandy is left to age for 6 to 8 years in oak barrels. Before going back to the hall for a tasting session, we are invited to take a look at the most prestigious wine stores, known as purgatoire (purgatory) and paradis (heaven) in which some of the brandies have been aging in demi-johns for over a hundred years. First overnight stop is Nantes, a city of the arts, a great industrial city, and the seat of a big university. Located on the confluence of the rivers Loire, Sèvres and Erdre, Nantes is the historic capital of the Dukes of Brittany and has a well preserved maritime and river-based history. It has now become the capital of the region called Pays de la Loire.
From Nantes north to Vannes, a medieval city, enclosed by ramparts and grouped around the cathedral, was built in the shape of an amphitheater at the head of the Golfe du Morbihan. Sights in the picturesque town full of creperies, cafés, restaurants and boutiques include the ramparts, some old wash-houses, the Cathedral of St. Pierre, various palaces and museums. Ample free time is planned for this visit. From Vannes via Dinan (its old houses and streets are girt by ramparts and guarded by an imposing castle) to St. Malo, a unique site in France and one of the great tourist centres of Brittany. Few towns have had as many famous sons as St. Malo over the centuries, to name just a few: Jacques Cartier who left in 1534 to look for gold in Newfoundland and Labrador: instead he discovered the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, which he took to be the estuary of a great Asian river.
The Inner City of Vannes
Street
Scene in
Vannes, Brittany
Mont St. Michel has been called the marvel of the western world owing to its island setting. Seeing the famous abbey separated from the main land by each six hour tide leaves and indelible impression. Mont St. Michel is a granite island. It is joined to the mainland by a dike. As the bay is already partially silted up, the Mont is usually to be seen surrounded by huge sand banks which shift with the tides and often reshape the mouths of the neighbouring rivers. The abbey's origin goes back to the early 8C, when the Archangel Michael appeared to Aubert, Bishop of Avranches, who founded an oratory on the island, then known as Mont Tombe.
Café in Vannes
In Normandy we will visit Les Plages du Débarquement (the D-Day Landing Beaches), Le port artificiel d'Arromances (the artificial habour at Arromanches), La Musée du Débarquement (D-Day Landing Museum), Omaha-Beach and the American military cemetary at Colleville. We will stay overnight in Trouville sur Mer, a favorite weekend and vacation destination for Parisians
After a leisurely morning on the beach (right in front of the Grand Hotel) we will travel from Trouville sur Mer to Rouen, site of one of the grand Gothic Cathedrals and then, before reaching Paris (last overnight), we will visit the Gardens of Claude Monet at Giverny.
The tour ends in Paris. Evening free time for theater, etc. What is included: transportation in modern tour bus, four nights hotel & breakfast (Nantes, St. Malo, Trouville sur Mer, Paris), three dinners, fees, guides.
Register Now! Only a few seats remain.
Claude
Monet’s
Garden at Giverny
